Cal senior who never played a minute shares in women's basketball success

BERKELEY -- Tierra Rogers will be honored Sunday for a Cal basketball career that doesn't show up in any game summaries or box scores.

The former high school All-American from San Francisco has spent the last four seasons persevering through two devastating personal tragedies -- her father's murder and a rare heart condition that ended her playing days.

Though the ailment has prevented Rogers from logging a single minute on the court, she's remained on scholarship with the women's team, inspiring and motivating a Bears squad on the brink of a Pac-12 Conference championship.

"She's never officially put on a jersey, never checked into a game, never scored a basket, and yet we would all still say she's one of the most significant players in Cal Bears history," Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "She's found a way to make her impact felt in the community and on the team even without playing. I can't overemphasize how important that's been to all of us."

Rogers' tumultuous journey at Cal will conclude this summer when she'll earn her degree in African American studies, becoming the first person in her family to graduate from a four-year university.

It's a remarkable feat for someone who endured more heartache by age 18 than some experience in a lifetime.

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Rogers, who grew up in the rough Hunters Point neighborhood of the city, was a junior at Sacred Heart Cathedral when her father, Terrell, was killed outside one of her high school games. The anti-violence activist was Tierra Rogers' biggest fan, and his shooting death shook her to the core. Police believe Terrell Rogers was targeted, though no one was ever arrested for his murder.

For more than a year afterward, Rogers mostly just went through the motions on the basketball court as she dealt with the loss.

"It was hard to watch her play her senior year and see her not even enjoy it," said Virginia women's basketball coach Joanne Boyle, who coached at Cal from 2005 to 2011 and recruited Rogers. "Every time she stepped on the court it reminded her of her dad."

Just as Rogers was rediscovering her passion for basketball, she lost the sport, too.

At the start of her freshman year in Berkeley in 2009, she collapsed and stopped breathing during a conditioning workout with the team. Two weeks after the terrifying near-death incident, Rogers learned she had Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia, a heart ailment that's often diagnosed post-mortem. A defibrillator was implanted in her chest to manage the condition.

The days and months that followed were incredibly painful for Rogers as she tried to understand why two of the most important things in her life had been taken away. At the time, just looking at a basketball court could make her emotional.

"I was just happy she was alive," said Rogers' mom, Dalonna Ingram-Rogers. "For her, I think the emotion was confusion ... All her life was school and basketball. If that's all you know at that age, I think you feel like there's nothing left for you to do."

She considered leaving Cal and joining her mom and younger brother, Terrell Jr., who had moved to Texas. But when she learned Boyle still would honor her basketball scholarship, she stayed at Cal to get her education and be near the support system she had already developed in Berkeley.

Tierra Rogers, who was recruited to Cal to play basketball until a serious heart condition ended her playing career, is photographed at the University of California in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 19. (Kristopher Skinner / Bay Area News Group)

"The Cal family has been great, they let me just be who I am," Rogers said. "They treat me like I'm still a part of the team. ... Just having those people who love you for who you are really helps you cope."

The coaching staff has kept Rogers on scholarship all four years, even though it means working with a smaller active roster. Sunday's "senior day" ceremony before the Bears' final home game against Oregon State will symbolize the end of Rogers' atypical career.

When she could no longer use the on-court skills that made her one of the country's top guards as a high school senior, Rogers found her own way to contribute to the team's success.

With her unique perspective and wisdom, she's served as a mentor to younger players and provided emotional speeches in the years Cal lacked senior leaders. Gottlieb calls her an inspiration to the team and a source of strength.

"She's good at figuring out when she needs to say something that might be effective," Gottlieb said. "She'll speak up in team meetings about what our goals are and what we're capable of and her voice holds a lot of weight."

Rogers has done her part to help teammates off the court, too. When Cal senior guard Eliza Pierre's older brother was killed two summers ago, Rogers was there to provide emotional support.

The heart condition keeps Rogers from being too active physically at practice, though she'll pass, rebound for teammates and shoot sometimes. She sits on the Cal bench during games, cheering on her teammates.

"It's always kind of bittersweet because I still have that competitive nature in me," Rogers said. "I find myself thinking 'I wish I was on the floor.' "

Still, Rogers was the first person Gottlieb looked to hug after the Bears posted an emotional victory over Stanford on Jan. 13. "She's a part of it as much as anybody else," Gottlieb said.

As No. 6-ranked Cal has ascended into national prominence this season, Rogers doesn't miss a practice, game or any kind of team activity very often. Though she said this year has been easier than the past three, coping with her past remains a daily struggle.

"It always hits you at the most random times," she said. "I could be having a great day today and tomorrow I could be feeling like I don't want to get out of my room. I just go through these depression days."

With graduation only a few months away, Rogers isn't sure what she wants to do next, only that she wants to help others and touch lives.

"Ultimately this will be a lifelong journey for her," Boyle said, "but she got the most out of Cal and gave Cal the most out of her."